Skydance Names Streaming Leadership Team as Seven Executives Exit

Skydance has filled out the top ranks of its direct-to-consumer and television operation in one stroke, naming seven executives to leadership posts while confirming that the same number of senior figures will leave the company. J.B. Perrette, co-chair of Skydance DTC and TV, announced the changes on October 30, 2026, and was candid that the structure came together faster than reorganisations normally do — and that it may not be finished yet.

Who is coming in?

Jeff Cusson takes the reins as executive vice president and head of communications for Skydance DTC. The marketing brief goes to Shauna Spenley, who becomes chief marketing officer of global DTC and international TV.

Operations split three ways. Trey Turner will serve as the international chief operating officer, Josh Walker becomes chief operating officer of DTC, and Liz Wright takes the chief financial officer seat for the Skydance TV segment.

Three further appointments were settled before this week's announcement. Jay Askinasi leads ad sales, Ray Hopkins heads distribution, and David Decker handles content sales. Together the ten roles cover the spine of a streaming and television business: marketing, communications, finance, operations across domestic and international markets, and the three commercial revenue lines of advertising, distribution and content licensing.

Who is going out?

The reshuffle carries a real human cost, and Perrette did not pretend otherwise. Seven named executives are departing:

• Dan Barnes, HBO Max head of global advertising revenue
• Michael Bishara, Warner Bros Discovery executive vice president and general manager of global streaming and digital studios
• Jamie Cooke, executive vice president for central Europe, Middle East, Turkey and Africa
• Domenic DiMeglio, chief marketing officer and chief data officer for Paramount Streaming
• Marco Nobili, Paramount+ executive vice president and international general manager
• Pank Patel, Paramount's head of international media networks
• Juan Sola, Warner Bros head of streaming for Latin America

The pattern in the departures is hard to miss. The exits cut across advertising, data, marketing and international general management — the very functions the incoming team will now run. Barnes's departure, for instance, coincides with Askinasi's appointment to lead ad sales. Nobility of tenure was not in question; Perrette thanked all seven by name "for all they've done getting the company to where it is today."

"Their work has been instrumental to the success of the DTC and/or TV businesses, and I am incredibly grateful for their efforts throughout their impressive tenures," he added.

The mix of Paramount and Warner Bros Discovery titles in both the arriving and departing groups reflects the merged gene pool of the combined company, which now must settle on one chain of command per function rather than two.

What did Perrette admit about the process?

In a memo that reads less like a victory lap than a damage-control exercise, Perrette acknowledged what such announcements usually leave unsaid. He conceded the reorganisation had come together quickly, warned that further changes might follow, and named the "unfortunate anxiety and distraction" the shake-up will bring to staff.

That framing matters. Rapid reorganisations with same-day appointments and departures tend to leave middle management guessing about reporting lines, and Perrette's decision to address the anxiety directly suggests he knows the risk. His pledge to move fast cuts both ways: speed reduces uncertainty's duration, but it also increases the chance that roles are settled before the strategy beneath them is fully articulated.

"We will continue to work through it as quickly and respectfully as possible. In the meantime, please join me in congratulating this new leadership team… I'm incredibly excited to get going," Perrette said.

What happens next?

Perrette's own words set the forward agenda: the leadership is named but not closed, further changes remain possible, and the work of integrating teams continues. With advertising, distribution and content sales chiefs already in place and a full DTC and TV executive bench now announced, the burden shifts from assembling the roster to proving the new structure can execute — and to managing the departure of seven executives whose institutional knowledge walks out of the building with them.